State of the Left - April 2011

14 April 2011

Policy Network, April 2011

The dominant leadership styles of the likes of Bill Clinton, Göran Persson,
Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder have long departed the political arena. And with
them the wave of optimism and self-confidence which swept through social
democratic parties at the turn of the Millenium. Back then, complacency was the
foremost hurdle for social democrats propelling the new economy.

A new generation of leaders has now entered the political fray but they are
confronted by manifold dilemmas from every conceivable angle – a lack of trust
in the state and the market, public apathy, the rising tide of ‘green’
and coalition politics, and conservative-led
public discourse, to name but a few.

What is clear is that the centre-left needs to start winning the ‘big
arguments’. Here there are grounds for optimism. In the US, as President Obama
enters his long campaign for re-election, he has made a potentially sea-changing
speech on the US budget deficit. In the UK, the collapse of public confidence in the Coalition’s NHS reforms provides an opportunity for Labour to re-connect with
disillusioned voters.

But leadership also means identifying strategies to cope with the new issues
and competitors in our politics – in Australia
and Germany,
newly mobilised Green voters are radically changing the political landscape,
while in the Netherlands
and France
cultural tensions continue to affect social democratic narratives.

Are we seeing a new pattern of leadership in response to the challenges
facing social democratic parties in Europe? At present, a whole range of styles,
approaches and narratives are being deployed – to which the new leaderships in
Sweden
and Spain
will make further contributions.

Success in one country might not necessarily equate to a neighbouring
political system. But when success returns, a benchmark will inevitably be set.
Bringing together centre-left party leaders and thinkers, Policy Network's
upcoming Progressive Governance Conference in Oslo will provide a vital platform for shaping such
a winning discourse.

"The
deeper problem remains the fact that the American centre-left has utterly failed
to win the public over to its Keynesian explanation of the Great Recession .Most
Americans believe that the beneficiaries of the bail-out and the stimulus have
been large banks, large corporations, and wealthy people." BY MICHAEL LIND

"Finally,
the battlelines are drawn, and the contours of the political debate in Australia
in 2011 are clear. It’s not an overstatement to say that Julia Gillard’s Labor
government has embarked on the fight of its political life...The battle centres
on carbon pricing." BY DAVID HETHERINGTON

"The
recent elections provide valuable lessons into the external obstacles faced by
the Socialist Party on the road to 2012. There is a quartet of difficulties in
this respect, relating to the political trends which have developed and deepened
since previous French elections." BY LAURENT BOUVET

"In
George Orwell´s 1984, the ruling party’s Ministry of Truth carries three
slogans: ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.’ ...Following
the elections in three German Länder last month, the SPD headquarters might have
displayed the slogan: ‘Failure is success.’... party leaders whitewashed the bad
results" BY MICHAEL MIEBACH

"Frontrunners
from different political generations compete to win the leadership as Zapatero
prepares his legacy. Party leaders have agreed to postpone this political debate
until after the elections on May 22. But, in spite of this, the mass media has
already chosen its candidates: Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and Carme Chacón". BY
IGNACIO URQUIZU

"The
skater Stephen Bradbury is famous for winning Australia's first
gold medal in speed skating by virtue of the fact that all of his competition
slipped. Bradley’s surprise victory reminds us that there are different ways of
winning. Similarly, Håkan Juholt the new leader of the social democrats could be
said to have won election when everyone else slipped." BY KATRINE KIELOS

"For
a substantial part of the population personal well-being is accompanied by high
discomfort and anxiety about the direction society is taking. Almost 30% of
Dutch people feel that they have no grip on their lives and future, that our way
of living together is declining and ‘…we can do nothing about it’. BY MONIKA SIE
DHIAN HO

“Andrew
Lansley unveiled a reorganisation of the health service so great that the chief
executive of the NHS said that it could be seen from space. Destructive,
unpopular and inexplicable reforms combined with broken promises give Labour a
real chance to fatally brand the Tories, once again, as the enemies of the NHS.
BY JOHN MCTERNAN